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Thursday, 29 November 2007 13:43
A Day at Nakekela Care Centre by Dr. Sonja Miskin

It’s an early winter morning as we drive out from Pretoria city to rural Kwamhlanga. There is a mist hanging low and frost on the ground. The sun is up, but gives no heat; it is an unseasonably cold winter. The picture postcards of Africa seldom portray the harshness of the winters. This time of year is dry and dusty, the fields and bushveld have a brownish wheat colour, and although the sky is bright blue, it is of a crisp kind. We consider the truth of God’s Word in describing all of creation as groaning under the curse caused by sin, and this cold weather is a sharp reminder of that.
As we drive, we think about the week lying ahead, in that part of our Lord’s Vineyard where we are called to serve. It will include some heartache but thankfully, also some joy. So, let me describe for you a typical day out at Nakekela Care Centre.
Today we’ll start with a staff meeting, including people in management, the nursing staff, our kitchen team, and the two men doing the garden and general maintenance – 25 people in total. We don’t have a suitable room, so we sit outside in the wide, open-air passage, huddled under jackets, stomping our feet to keep warm. Rev. Arthur Miskin opens with reading from Scripture, which he explains for us, pointing us to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Name under heaven whereby we must be saved. Reminded of to Whom we belong and Who has called us to our work, we pray, asking for help, wisdom, and strength for the days ahead.
Everyone has an opportunity to share their joys, sorrows and problems, and together we discuss these. We close our meeting by singing together, praying, and sipping cups of steaming rooibos tea.
Sister Emma and I continue with ward rounds to see to our eight in-patients. Today, Lindiwe, Catherine, Pinky and Petros are well enough to sit outside in the sun; they share chit-chat with one another and make jokes with the care workers. It is an encouragement to see them so vastly improved. Soon they will be discharged, and on their anti-retroviral (HIV) treatment will need only monthly follow up. Two of them have had strokes with resulting weakness in their arms and legs, but are able to function fairly well despite the disabilities.
The other four patients are in bed and bundled up under blankets due to the cold. They are so thin and wasted that they have no body fat for insulation. Zanele has AIDS dementia, does not recognize us and is refusing to take treatment. There is not much we can do for her. Mpho is suffering from TB due to poor immunity as a result of AIDS, and it has spread to her bones. She has a lot of pain, so we adjust her medication to make her as pain-free as possible. Lucky is a young man who has lost all function in his legs as a result of AIDS involvement of his nervous system, and has to be turned to prevent bedsores from developing. He needs to wear diapers, too, which affects his dignity. We encourage him by pointing to the other co-patients that have recovered. Venice is a newly admitted patient, with deep, penetrating septic ulcers due to severe neglect. She has been abandoned by her family. We discuss the best approach to wound management considering the high pain level she experiences. We talk to the others in the team about her socio-economic problems and the best way to help her spiritually and emotionally with the rejection she suffers.
After lunch, Pastor Sifiso comes to visit. He does a Bible study with those well enough to sit outside, and then does bedside visitation with the others. He is in no hurry; he reads Scripture to each one, patiently listens to fears and concerns, and prays in a heartfelt way for each patient individually. We notice his compassion for these suffering people, and marvel at how he points them to The Great Physician in their own dialect.
I make plans for the next day to do home visitation with two care workers to follow up on patients lately discharged from Nakekela. They are doing well physically, but need encouragement emotionally and spiritually. We choose the Scripture portions to read and pack our medical supplies in preparation.
Time comes to head home to Pretoria. The road is busy, with many busses and taxis heading in all directions. I use the time to think and pray, thanking the Lord for healing mercies, both physical and spiritual. I reflect on the deep sense of joy in my soul that comes as a result of being exactly where the Lord would have me. Having been saved by Grace, it is a pleasure to do my Lord’s will in this work. Being hands and feet for the Lord Jesus Christ is the least we can do, for He is so worthy!

Dr. Sonja Miskin and her husband, Rev. Arthur Miskin, oversee the medical department of the Nakekela Care Centre, an AIDS hospice, in rural Kwamhlanga, South Africa.
 
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